Prime Ark Freedom: Absolute Best Blackberry For Socal Ever
Jay Part Shade (Zone 10B, S21, Los Angeles)
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
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Greenhorn2
7 years agoRelated Discussions
Help, I need to try a different blackberry.
Comments (15)Fine hair-like thorns? Like raspberries? The blackberries in Griffith Park have the more traditional rose-like thorns. They grow in large tangled messes about 3 or four feet tall and however deep. Lots and lots of spider webs, too. It was probably not ursinus, I guess. I did some more researching... The Wikipedia entry on blackberries had some interesting background on the development of the thornless varieties. The thornless-erect varieties have been developed (primarily) at the University of Arkansas, and they share some common traits, including that they are "less vigorous" but tolerate cold better than the semi-erect varieties. (Navaho, Ouachita, Cherokee, Apache, Arapaho and Kiowa.) They propagate through root runners. Many of the Eastern semi-erect thornless varieties were developed through USDA-ARS in Maryland and were hybridized from the UK's Merton Thornless. "The semi-erect blackberries are thornless, crown forming, incredibly vigorous, and need a trellis for support. Cultivars of this type include the very popular Chester Thornless as well as Triple Crown, Loch Ness, 'Loch Tay', Smoothstem, Hull Thornless, Dirksen Thornless and Black Satin." Many of the trailing varieties have been developed though USDA-ARS's Oregon facility. (Black Diamond, Black Pearl and Nightfall as well as the very early ripening Obsidian and Metolius.) The erect ones tend to be the most cold-hardy, the trailing ones the least. I am having the greatest difficulty finding information about chill hours for blackberries. Not a clue to be found, anywhere. It would be nice to have all this in a convenient blackberry FAQ. I thought I researched the subject of blackberries fairly well before ordering the Arapaho, years ago. I've been patting myself on the back for being so thorough in picking the best variety... and then I waited, and waited, and waited. From reading older threads on the forum here, I can see now that there are many people that have had problems with Arapaho just "not growing" after being planted, so my problem is not unique. Why? I don't know. Maybe the UofA thornless plants have more temperamental soil or climate requirements than the other thornless varieties. I read one article last night about experiments growing commercial varietes in Arizona, and the worst performing of the lot were the UofA varieties. The Texas developed varieties performed very well. Key quote: "Most of the blackberries planted had new shoot growth three to four weeks after planting. Up to three plants of each variety did not have a growth flush; these plants had all died by summer 1994. All the plants of the 'Arapaho', 'Cherokee' and 'Shawnee' cultivars had died by spring 1995. All the plants of 'Cheyenne', 'Choctaw' and 'Navajo' cultivars had died by spring 1997. We attribute the mortality to lack of chilling. Arkansas varieties apparently do not grow well in southern Arizona because of the warm winters, as suggested by Moore (1984)." Arizona article (Dr. Moore is the man behind the whole UofA breeding program for the past 40 years.) I guess I made a mistake going with Arapaho. Such a shame, though, to have to find out this way. Three years wasted. It looks, now, as though I would have been better off with semi-erect thornless varieties (like Triple Crown) that were developed at Maryland. Does anybody have any leads on chill hour requirements? It would be nice if we could make a table....See Moresuccessive ripening blackberry varieties?
Comments (34)I started my berry patch last year around June with WOW Black Magic plants here in Orlando, FL. Zone 9. WOW is a mature plant being sold by a few online companies. I also planted Nachez, Prime-Ark 45 and Triple Crown. The Nachez and Prime-Ark 45 plants only fruited a little due to my late start. The Black Magic grew quickly and started fruiting by August. The plants continued to flower and fruit through our FL winter. The early fruit was a nice size and got larger as we got into our mild winter. I have actually picked berries each and ever month through the winter and picked some on March 1st. I am talking a few berries here and there. I think the plants have not figured out their cycle yet here in FL. Most of them have lost their leaves over winter but some continued to grow. They did develop buds during the winter and in the last week they started opening up and flowering. Looks like I will be having a nice crop of blackberries. My other 3 plants show buds, but have not opened up yet. Just the Black Magic so far. I had contacted John Clark when I ordered the Black Magic plant and he said that some places are selling them. So that eased my concern. Then in early July I read a patent was applied for on the APF-77 Black Berry plant. It did not call it Black Magic. When I looked a the patent photos it definitely looked like the plants I have that were marketed as the Black Magic(APF-77). Over all I am very pleased with the Black Magic here in FL for 2 reasons. It seemed to handle our summer heat and because of our mild winter continue to fruit pretty much all winter. I received my 10 TC Prime-Ark Freedom plants from Nourse Farms and planted them on February 28th, 2014. Placed the order back in October. They still do not list them on their website. You would have to call and order them. I hope they are as productive as the Black Magic. Supposedly they fruit earlier and have a bigger berry. It is a very promising plant. Can't wait to see....See MorePrime-Ark Freedom Chill Hours
Comments (14)Prime Ark Freedom is an absolute winner for low chill areas. I have two mature plants and another 3 or so babies. All of them are putting out fruit. Here's my primocanes starting to ripen. The berries are huge, much larger than Triple Crown and much better tasting as well. The plant in the pics is in a 10 gallon root pouch on an aquaponics wicking bed. The thing is a beast, I tipped it twice (once when the canes were 3 ft and again when the new canes were 3 ft) and it just keeps growing. The only downside with PAF is, so far, getting some white drupes due to either sun or heat intensity. If the primocane fruit starts getting scorched, I'll try covering it in frost/shade cloth. If the canes keep producing until dec, then it'll have produced for 9 months in our climate....See MoreBest type of red ever-bearing raspberry plant for Long Island, NY?
Comments (20)If you pinch the tips they will branch and be bushy but as the canes get older the thorns get worse. They can get thick so picking berries can be like a dangerous easter egg hunt.... sometimes you get too eager going for the fruit and get a sharp stab. I currently have them in those blue water barrels cut in half. The ones cut length-ways are in wood frames to keep from tipping over and sit on cement patio fruiting for 2yrs+. Another barrel I cut width-ways so about 17in deep 24 wide also survive winter snow on cement patio. Just make sure something blocks the wind. I know it can get brutal especially further out Long Island, that can cause tip burn or if you're closer to shore you may have a bit of salt in it so you can cover canes with tarp but you need rain and snow to get to soil during winter so mulch or frost blanket over ground at bottom....See MoreIke Stewart
7 years agocatfishhoward
7 years agoJay Part Shade (Zone 10B, S21, Los Angeles)
7 years agoJason (Zone 10b, San Diego)
7 years agoGreenhorn2
7 years agocalfee20
7 years agoJason (Zone 10b, San Diego)
7 years agohungryfrozencanuck
7 years agosi_22
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agosi_22
7 years agoGreenhorn2
7 years agosi_22
7 years agoerect and thornless
6 years agoerect and thornless
6 years agoUser
6 years agoIke Stewart
6 years agoerect and thornless
6 years agoerect and thornless
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoerect and thornless
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agocurjones01
6 years agoAdam B
6 years agoisghj kurzhnr
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoisghj kurzhnr
5 years ago
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Jay Part Shade (Zone 10B, S21, Los Angeles)Original Author